Convicted Tunkhannock killer seeking to overturn verdict

A man serving 20 to 40 years in prison for a Tunkhannock Township fatal stabbing is trying to get the conviction against him overturned.

ANDREW SCOTT

A man serving 20 to 40 years in prison for a Tunkhannock Township fatal stabbing is trying to get the conviction against him overturned.

Philip Vonville, 32, testified at a Friday post-sentencing hearing in Monroe County Court, saying his former attorney failed to raise the issue of his mental illness, which could have gotten him a less severe sentence.

A jury convicted Vonville in 2010 of third-degree murder in the 2009 death of Christopher Hernandez, 19, in the driveway of the Long Pond home Vonville shared with his ex-girlfriend and her mother at the time.

Vonville admits he killed Hernandez, but said it was involuntary manslaughter (accidental) which is less than third-degree murder. He said he was depressed over his recent breakup with his ex, Brittany Hartley, and scared because of threatening cell phone text messages he had gotten from Hartley's friend, Hernandez, prior to the day of the murder.

One such text message stated, "If I ever see you around Brittany again, you're dead."

Hernandez had sent Vonville no further texts that day when showing up unannounced at Vonville's home. Vonville said he thought Hernandez was there to harm him, even though Hernandez stayed in his vehicle and said nothing.

"I saw him reach for something and that's the last thing I remember," a remorseful Vonville testified Friday.

Armed with a knife, Vonville ran more than 80 feet in seconds to Hernandez's vehicle, reached in through the driver-side window and stabbed him. Seeing what he had done, Vonville then cut his own wrists.

Both men were later flown to the hospital, where Hernandez died.

Vonville said Friday that he told Robin Spishock, who defended him at trial, that he's mentally ill from a childhood of physical, mental and sexual abuse. He was diagnosed at age 14 with mental health problems and said Spishock should have brought this out at trial but didn't.

When questioned by Vonville's current attorney, Brad Weidenbaum, Spishock said she had received no records of Vonville being diagnosed with anything other than depression and that he was found mentally competent to stand trial. She said she relied at the time on a report from mental health expert Dr. Ilan Levinson of Stroudsburg, who evaluated Vonville prior to trial.

"I told (Spishock) that report was inaccurate and I wanted another evaluation, but I never got one," said Vonville, who was being held without bail at Monroe County Correctional Facility prior to trial.

When cross-examined by Assistant District Attorney Barney Anderson on why he never sent Spishock a letter from jail requesting another evaluation, Vonville said, "I thought a phone call was sufficient."

Spishock said she would have been unable to get him another evaluation anyway due to a ruling by then-President Judge Ronald Vican.

When asked why he never mentioned anything to Levinson during his pre-trial evaluation about having bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders, Vonville said he knew at the time that he had been previously diagnosed with other problems besides depression, but didn't know what specifically they were.

And when asked why he never tried to obtain a complete file of his mental health records prior to trial, Vonville said, "At the time, I had no idea what was required or how the legal process works. That's what lawyers are for."

President Judge Margherita Patti Worthington will issue a decision at a future date after reviewing briefs submitted by attorneys on both sides.

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